In the Real World
by Kel6
Summary: After becoming the One, Neo still doesn’t really know what he can do or what’s expected of him. Fighting Agents turns out to be one of the least of his worries… (Gap filler set between M1 and M2).
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **In the Real World

**Summary: **After becoming the One, Neo still doesn't really know what he can do or what's expected of him. Fighting Agents turns out to be one of the least of his worries… (Gap filler set between M1 and M2).

**Rating: **PG-13, just in case.

**A/N: **Just a gap-filler starting after M1. There are no spoilers for M2 and M3 apart from the odd hint that slips into my writing.

Since I'm English, I'm guessing my writing is also inherently so. And since The Matrix is American, I'm trying to write slightly more American-ish than normal. So I'd appreciate anyone who picked out any glaring Britishisms. As my interests lie in the Armed Forces I've used terms I'm not sure would be used in Zion (in particular, things like mess tins) but they're familiar to me. If there are any Americanized terms that are more suitable, I'd be glad to hear.

This is my first Matrix fic, so any constructive criticism (or any reviews at all) are welcome.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own 'The Matrix' or any of the characters involved and I'm not making any money out of this.

**Chapter 1**

A flash of light, Neo squeezed his eyes shut. He heard the clattering as metal hit metal, felt a strange heaviness as something threw itself across his chest. Feet still locked into place and hands clung to the arms of the chair, his brain was still trying to deal with what had happened.

Then, abruptly, the panic stopped; there was silence. There was a slight flicker of light through his eyelids, but there seemed to be nothing beyond that.

Neo took a couple of deep breaths, steadying himself, trying not to think about what was going on and what he had missed while jacked in. Then he opened his eyes. _Trinity_. She was perched on the edge of the chair, half lying across him, studying him, her blue eyes filled with relief. He let himself think back and he remembered her voice: _"Because I love you. You hear me? I love you."_ It had come through the darkness and the cold, and somehow pulled him out of death.

Awkwardly, he reached up with his arm and slipped it around her shoulder, running his fingers over her hair and the jack in the back of her neck. He nudged her down to him, pulling her closer. She stroked his face, her fingers gently moving down from his forehead to his chin, then she leaned down to kiss him again.

It was different from any kiss he'd ever had in the Matrix. Perhaps it was the setting, the sparks of electricity from the destroyed main deck. Perhaps it was the fact that the machines hadn't _quite_ got the programming right in the Matrix. Or perhaps it was just the fact that it was Trinity. The rush of adrenaline from everything that had happened was still going strong, his heart was beating madly; he moved his other arm up to pull her even closer up against his body.

It couldn't go on forever, though. Trinity slowly moved back and Neo opened his eyes, to look right into her blue ones. She was still close, barely inches from him; her arms on his shoulders while he still held her close.

Something moved on the edge of their vision, Neo and Trinity turned to see Tank, walking slowly to the door. Morpheus followed, supporting him, making sure nothing happened. Even in the little light there was, Tank's wounds could be seen clearly.

"I'll take him to the sick bay and do all I can without power. If neither of you is injured, you can begin to clear up this area and where else the Sentinels were," said Morpheus. He paid no attention to the fact that Trinity lay across Neo and their arms were around each other, he merely disappeared out of the room, although slowly as not to force Tank to move too quickly. Neo was surprised to discover he didn't feel all that embarrassed; it just seemed… natural.

Trinity slipped off Neo and helped him out of the chair, removing the spike from the jack in his head and undoing the clasps over his boots. "Come on, Neo," she said, her voice not quite as business-like as normal. "We have to get on with it, there'll be time later…"

"What happened?" he asked, staring at the Sentinel remains that littered the floor. The deck had been ruined on the floor above them, wires hung loose, and even the sparks had died down. It was cold, more so than normal; and there was little light, only a dim glow from a few small bulbs. The shadows were seemed to loom over them and most things could barely be seen. But he could see enough to notice a lot of damage had been done.

"Sentinels," she said. "We couldn't use the EMP while you were in the Matrix, it would have killed you; so we had to wait. The ship was still operational when we blew it, meaning most of our systems are down."

"The light?" he said, gesturing around. "Wouldn't an EMP have destroyed that as well?"

Trinity shook her head. "We have some back up systems in case of emergency. The ship won't function beyond us having light and air; not until another ship finds us, anyway. When they do they'll be able to get everything operational using their power."

"How long will that be?"

Trinity shrugged. "Who knows? A while, that's for sure, most ships tend to keep to specific areas of the tunnels to avoid accidentally destroying each other with EMPs."

She pointed at the Sentinel on the floor. "Most of this will be recycled, we need as many operational wires and circuit boards as possible. However, out primary priority is to trace the path the Sentinels took through the ship; make it as safe as we can and mark out which areas we can't adequately fix."

Neo nodded, Trinity seemed to have got over the shock and was remembering she was in charge and he didn't know what to do. He was still in shock and couldn't really believe any of what had happened that day, he didn't imagine he'd be able to think straight for a while yet.

"Are you all right, Neo?" she asked. Her eyes flicked down to his stomach, where he'd been shot; then back up to his face. "I should have checked sooner, of course."

"No, no, I'm fine," he said. "Just trying to sort out my life."

"It'll take a while," she said, with a small smile; taking his hand and squeezing. "But if you want to sit down and rest, then you're welcome to, I'm all right working by myself."

"No need," said Neo, shaking his head. "I'm fine; there'll be plenty of time to think later." He got to his feet, albeit slowly; then looked around the main deck again.

"Very well," she said, and led him over to the walls. Lined by metal fronted cabinets containing everything from the workings of the ship to odds and ends that hadn't been sorted, the ship's walls still looked fairly tidy as the sentinels had mostly ignored them in an effort to get to the humans. Some of the cabinets looked like that hadn't been touched in years, Neo had no idea what was in most of them.

Trinity wrenched open one of the cabinets, which screeched, then the door slammed into the metal on the other side, the clash echoing in the silence. She pulled out what looked like two cans of spray paint, the metal was tarnished with no visible writing or image on the side of the cans; she tossed one to Neo, who caught it with both hands.

"Ship's Blood," she said, answering Neo's questioning look. "Anything we can't fix ourselves, and there'll be a fair amount as we have no power, we spray this on to. The Engineering and Mechanic teams in Zion know where to look if we use this stuff; they can even detect bits of paint that can't be seen because of the chemicals it contains."

"Is that its actual name?" asked Neo, with a raised eyebrow. Whoever invented the stuff must have had a… strange sense of humour.

"I think so," came the reply. "It is now, anyway, it was probably called something else when it was first invented, but I've never heard any other name. Come on, let's get going."

The work was simple enough: testing each area of deck the machines had passed; searching the pathway for destroyed wires; and clearing any debris. Neo and Trinity worked in comfortable silence: both needed time to think. Neo was trying to organise the day's events in his head: his trip to the Oracle, Morpheus being caught, Cypher's betrayal, the rescue and, of course, Trinity. His thoughts returned to her more often than not, from what they'd spoke of on the way to the Oracle, to her side of the conversation with Cypher. She was there, in every scene.

And then there was the fact that he was the One, he would have to end the war, or so Morpheus believed anyway. What was he supposed to do now? After he'd been shot, he'd died; there was no other way of thinking about it. But thanks to Trinity, he was alive and well. Thanks to her, he'd been able to destroy Smith. He could stop bullets, move walls, jump inside people and programs… but what did he have to do? The One was supposed to end the war, but he couldn't just walk up to the machines' boss and ask could they please leave Zion alone and let people out of the Matrix?

Forcing the thoughts out of his mind, it wasn't the time to try and decide that; he grabbed a Sentinel by the tentacles and turned to Trinity. "Where should I take this? Back to the main deck with the other two that are there?"

She looked up from the wires she was fiddling with. "Yeah, we'll put them all there. You should be able to lift it easily, they're quite light." Neo nodded and set off, dragging it after him; it was easier to drag than pick up, as it was far too big for that sort of thing and he'd never be able to see. The dim light made the going difficult anyway, as he couldn't see any obstacles clearly, so he stumbled as he walked.

He threw the Sentinel down through the hole in the deck that the Sentinels themselves had created. It clattered as the tentacles hit the jagged edges of the cut up deck, then crashed to the ground, landing close to one of the others. They were a formidable enemy when active, too large for a human to even hope fighting. Even when they were dead - although that was the wrong word - any sensible person would want to keep away. It didn't feel permanent, indeed: if the _Neb_ could be saved, then it _couldn't_ be permanent.

Neo returned to Trinity, whose hands were stained red by the paint she was using. "It'll be a while before this comes off," she said with a shrug. "Non-toxic though, it has to be because it gets everywhere."

They continued to work well into the evening, gradually moving upwards through the ship, following the paths the Sentinels had cut. It was slightly monotonous, but it gave Neo something to occupy his mind with: hauling bits of metal down, as Trinity did most of the fiddlier stuff that he wasn't confident he knew how to do (he'd done training on it, but he had no experience). After many hours work, the ships lights flickered, and then died.

"What's up?" he asked. "We haven't run out of power already, have we?" It was dark, pitch black. Although not as dark as how he'd felt in that corridor, but that was his brain turning off, rather than the lights.

"No," replied Trinity. "The lights go on and off automatically at set times, it's the ships way of telling us we should get some sleep." He heard her clattering around, kicking some junk out of the way, before a powerful beam of light appeared; she'd got hold of a torch, which she shone it at him, somehow avoiding his eyes. "We should probably take a break now," she said. "We both need rest after today."

Neo nodded. "Is there any way to put the lights back on?" he asked. Navigating through the _Neb_ was hard enough when it was light.

"If all systems were operational, then yes. But the emergency system can't be just turned on at will, except in certain areas. It's simply as a way of saving as much power as possible. Come on, we'll go together." Lowering the torch to the floor, she walked towards him and took his hand. "There's only the one light, we'll go fairly slowly and stick together."

Staggering through a hovercraft without power, still thinking about all that had happened that day; was not something Neo ever imagined himself doing, especially not before he was freed. It wouldn't even have entered his wildest dreams, particularly the idea of being with Trinity; he wouldn't have dared _think_ it.

Trinity led him down to the mess room and handed him a couple of mess tins, then she held the light so he could put some… slop into them easily. They both sat down, and she turned the light off, plunging them both into total darkness. Not being able to see the food made it a little easier to eat, but not much. Neo's thoughts were drawn back to that morning, when they'd all been there for breakfast. Except Morpheus, but he never seemed to stop working.

"Where do you suppose Morpheus is?" he asked.

"Probably in the sick bay," came a voice from just in front of him. It was really weird just not being able to see _anything_. "Tank was bad, very bad. I… I don't know if he'll make it, especially since we haven't got anything beyond simple first aid." Slowly, Neo reached forward, moving his hand along the tabletop, fumbling in the darkness. He bashed her mess tin, before he found her hand, and grabbed hold of it. It was some connection to her, he'd felt strangely alone in the dark.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

"For what?"

"If only I'd got out of the Matrix quicker, we might still have some power."

"Don't be silly," she squeezed his hand. "That's got nothing to do with anything. If you have to blame someone, blame Cypher."

"Are you all right? You talked to him on the phone…" He stroked her hand with his thumb: her grip had tightened slightly.

"I'm fine, it was just… the shock, more than anything. I've known him for nine years, we were never _close_, exactly, but he's been a member of this crew for so long. Longer than anyone else, except me and Morpheus, of course."

Neo carried on eating in the silence that followed, more slowly than ever now he was holding on to Trinity. But he didn't want to let go, he'd just feel too isolated. Finally, he dropped the spoon and it clattered in the tin. "I'm ready when you are," he said.

'"Been ready for a while," said Trinity, across the table. "You'll learn to choke it down quickly, eventually." There was a brief silence while she searched for the torch and turned it on. "Do… do you want to come back to my cabin? We can talk a bit more, and it's more comfortable than here."

Neo nodded. "Yeah… okay," he replied, not really wanting to go off alone.

The cabins were too small for two people, really, but the bed was more comfortable a seat than the chairs in the mess room. Both knew, although neither mentioned, that nothing could happen beyond talking and, perhaps, kissing: the doors with no locks and the sense that nobody outside Zion was every off duty saw to that. Not to mention the fact that it simply wasn't the time. In the pitch black, Neo pulled Trinity close to him, just to hug. He'd had few close friends or girlfriends inside the Matrix, too wrapped up in trying to escape, and now there was someone there for him. It was a strange feeling, but one he could definitely get used to. The ship was cold normally, but without much (if any) heating it was even worse; but lying next to Trinity, his arms curled around her, it didn't feel so bad any more, it just didn't seem to matter. They didn't bother with talking, there was no need; they just drifted off to sleep together…


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **In the Real World

**Summary: **After becoming the One, Neo still doesn't really know what he can do or what's expected of him. Fighting Agents turns out to be one of the least of his worries… (Gap filler set between M1 and M2).

**Rating: **PG-13, just in case.

**A/N: **Just a gap-filler starting after M1. There are no spoilers for M2 and M3 apart from the odd hint that slips into my writing.

Since I'm English, I'm guessing my writing is also inherently so. And since The Matrix is American, I'm trying to write slightly more American-ish than normal. So I'd appreciate anyone who picked out any glaring Britishisms. As my interests lie in the Armed Forces I've used terms I'm not sure would be used in Zion (in particular, things like mess tins) but they're familiar to me. If there are any Americanized terms that are more suitable, I'd be glad to hear.

This is my first Matrix fic, so any constructive criticism (or any reviews at all) are welcome. Updates will be few and far between as I'm away at boarding school!

And finally: thanks to all my reviewers. I'm sorry I couldn't reply to you all individually, as I'd like to, but I'm very busy. **Divamercury**and **Ivy**: Thanks, I'm glad you both like it! **Kal**** Torak**: Thanks, I do try to keep the detail in, but it's hard because I'm usually a very brief writer. **Q**: Thanks again! Hope you like the rest of it! **MistyX**: I'm glad I managed to avoid some of the clichés and that you like their relationship. Thanks for reviewing! **ThereIsNoBrain**: thanks for reviewing! I think the W did try to make it as though it could be any city, but it is still fairly American in style!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own 'The Matrix' or any of the characters involved and I'm not making any money out of this.

**Chapter 2**

The flicker of the lights turning on was just enough to wake Neo. It was much dimmer than normal, but he was a light sleeper. In his arms, Trinity slept on. He looked around the room which he'd had no chance to see the previous night. It was the same as his in size and layout, but it had a more lived-in look. A couple of neat piles of clothes sat on the small, cramped shelves; mostly of a similar design to what they all wore. The cover on the bed was very faded, but it looked as though there had once been some sort of pattern on it, and the fabric was different to his own. On the small shelf beside her bed lay a book.

Neo stared at it, it looked old and well worn; in fact, he'd never seen anything as old-fashioned as a book in his time on board the _Neb_. He reached towards it, but stopped, realizing it might be something private. Something Trinity didn't want anyone to see.

"You can look if you want," she muttered, yawning slightly and blinking as she pulled herself upright. "It's photos, mostly print-outs from the image translators for the Construct. I like to remember those I work with."

"I didn't even know they made books in this time," said Neo, moving back slightly, to give her some room.

"Not many and not often, the paper's synthetic, of course. But no matter how advanced we get with technology, humans still seem to trust a sheet of paper more than a machine to keep record of something." Trinity picked up the book and handed it to him; he could tell there was something different about the cover: it didn't feel like the paper or cardboard from the Matrix. But then, who was to say the machines got it right in the first place?

He flicked through briefly; it was all of people, some groups and some individuals. The shots taken from the Construct were the most interesting, as there were people in various different training simulations. He recognised a few of the faces: here was Switch and Apoc fighting together; and Mouse testing the Agent Training Program…

"That's the original crew, from shortly after I was first freed," she said, pointing to one page where various individual shots had been placed together. Neo scanned the faces, but recognised only Morpheus (who was captain even then) and Trinity, both of whom looked scarily young.

"How old…?" he asked, pointing at her.

"I was freed when I was sixteen," she replied.

"Yeah, you look very young…"

"Not really," she said, with a smile. "When we get back to Zion, you'll see, Neo. The oldest person ever freed who lived long enough to complete his training - before you, of course - was twenty-five. And he was something of a miracle. You'll get a lot of questions and strange looks when you say you've just been freed."

Neo looked at her, surprised; Morpheus had said there was a maximum age, and that Neo was older than it, but he hadn't said the divide was like that.

"What happened to him? The twenty-five year old, I mean."

"He died," said Trinity, shortly. "Perhaps we should go, Morpheus will be looking for us." Neo was surprised at her sudden subject change, but he guessed the last thing she needed to talk about was someone's death, not after what had happened the previous day. He closed the book and placed it back on her table, picked his top from the floor and left after her.

Morpheus was in the mess hall, but he was not eating, he merely stared blankly at the tin in front of him, his shoulders slumped. Neo had never seen him look so… defeated.

"Morpheus…?" murmured Trinity, and he looked up.

"We lost him."

Those three words were all that needed to be said. Trinity sat down slowly, her face suddenly white, any trace of humour had vanished. A crew of nine had been whittled down to three, in just one day. Neo clenched his teeth: Tank _should_ have been saved. If only he'd gotten out quicker. If only… But he hadn't, and there was nothing that could be done now. They were stranded with no heat, little light and no way of getting out.

Morpheus looked up and surveyed the room, as though snapping out of a dream. "There is still a fair amount to be done," he said. "You two worked late yesterday, but we need to continue repairing as much as possible. We do not know when we will be found by another. Undoubtedly, our disappearance will have been noticed by those nearby, so it should not be long before we are found. Until then, we must do what we can. However, before we start we must all eat, there is plenty of food to last us."

With Trinity keeping her eye on him, Neo forced himself to choke down what Apoc had accurately described as 'a bowl of snot'. Why, oh why, couldn't the texture of this slop be improved? He had joined a civilization advanced enough that they could float through the air with hovercrafts and then go _inside_ a computer program, but they couldn't master basic cooking beyond the idea of putting goo into a person's stomach.

After a disgusting breakfast, he and Trinity headed to where they'd had to stop the previous night.

"You said you were freed at sixteen…?" began Neo, after a few minutes of silence. Trinity turned and nodded. "And you hacked into the IRS d-base _before_ that?"

Trinity laughed quietly. "You mean not only was I a girl, but a teenager at that?"

Neo let out a low whistle, impressed as he realised, but looked slightly guilty when she reminded him of what he'd always thought. "I knew all about you, well, as much as one hacker could about another. You were well known for that and all the other stuff you did. Stories of what the famous Trinity had done was part of what inspired me to become a hacker in the first place!" Trinity turned back to what she was doing, still smiling lightly.

"Always glad to know I've helped!" she replied.

Neo tested the deck in front of him, it was stable. Fortunately the Sentinels had been so preoccupied with getting to the main deck, where all the crew was, that many areas were left untouched. He gently tugged at some wires hanging loose from the side of one wall. They stayed where they were, so he searched for more wires to connect them to so they could be fixed.

"What happens when we get back to Zion?" he asked.

"Well, we'll have sort everything out, officially. There are typically some aptitude tests, to see how you do in certain situations within the Matrix, that's all the standard stuff." She carefully placed a metal sheet over the opening it had once covered, and sprayed around the edges to mark it needed fixing. "But Morpheus and you will no doubt have to speak to the Council, and possibly Commander Lock as well." Neo grimaced, he'd never been much of a public speaker, but he didn't like the sound of that at all.

"What if they don't believe me?"

"The majority of the Council are willing to at least listen to Morpheus with an open mind, I'm sure they're receive you the same way. Commander Lock is… more of a skeptic, but just be honest and stay calm with him."

"I can't see myself getting annoyed at someone who believes what _I_'ve believed for so long," replied Neo. "I don't see why anyone would take me seriously, I'm just so normal."

Trinity just smiled. "Don't let him know you were ever a skeptic, if you have any doubts he'll pick up on it. You'll get used to not being believed eventually. Many others will believe, though; the very fact that you're alive when you were freed so old is enough to make you stand out. Just be confident, we all know you're the One and that's what matters."

"Thanks, Trin," he replied quietly.

"For what?"

"For being here."

That afternoon, most of the work they could do to the ship was finished, even the basic repairs to the outside. So they left the ship, taking the bodies of their fallen friends. A memorial service in Zion would be held, but the ship simply did not have the facilities to transport six bodies. There was no ritual, the three merely stood in silence by the shallow, unmarked graves of their friends. Neo put an arm around Trinity, although whether it was to support her, or for her to support him, he wasn't sure.

It was the first time he'd been out of the ship and into what had once been the sewers. The huge pipes towered over them, but the floor was littered with debris. There were Sentinel remains, huge pieces of metal from larger machines, or possibly even from ships that had belonged to Zion. The air was cold, their breath turned to steam before their eyes. There was little light and the huge shadows flickered and jumped as the torch moved. It was like a metal scrap yard, or even a machine graveyard…

Trinity squeezed Neo's hand.

"Let's go," she whispered, and gently tugged his arm. He followed her further into the towering debris and away from the _Neb_. "We rarely leave the ships when we're outside of Zion," she told him. "But we do in emergencies, it never hurts to show you what might happen and what you'll have to do."

"Morpheus…?" asked Neo, guessed that wasn't the only reason she'd dragged him away.

"He was their Captain, he _is_ our Captain. He's responsible for all his crew, not just in the eyes of Zion, but to himself as well." Neo nodded, following her around the rusting shell of a Sentinel, which lay, tentacles astray, in a muddled heap on the floor.

"How long have there been Sentinels?" he asked, nudging one of the limbs with his boot. "Some of these seem really old."

"Longer than anyone can remember," she replied. "There's no need to replace what works, after all." Slowly she moved forward, using as a path, areas where there was little debris. Walking was difficult, metal clattered below their feet. "Listen Neo, if Sentinels find us before another ship, then there's almost no chance we'll survive. Some Captains camp outside the ship for a chance of a fight in the open air, Morpheus prefers to stay in the _Neb_ unless they actually come. Then we grab what we can and leave."

"They have heat sensors?" he asked.

"Yes, they will find us no matter where we hide."

Neo was beginning to miss the Matrix, at least there he could do something if there was a problem. Here he was just another, helpless human, stuck waiting to be rescued. Trinity squeezed his hand to catch his attention and held his gaze.

"Don't worry, Neo," she murmured. "It won't be much longer now, one of the other ships would have come as quickly as possible: Zion can't risk losing anyone or anything to the machines. We've always survived because we all support each other as much as possible."

"It's just the waiting…" replied Neo, uncertainly; breaking her gaze and turning to look around the huge tunnel. Large shapes in the metal looked like they could only have come from one of Zion's ships.

"Once we're back on our feet and everything's sorted, you'll be wishing we had nothing to do," replied Trinity. "Since you were freed we've been very static, staying out of the Matrix when we can and concentrating solely on you surviving to realise who you are. There'll be much more work now, especially considering what you can do."

"What will I be doing?"

"Mainly, we search for people whose minds can be safely freed; it takes time, we can't always tell if a person's ready and we can spend months just watching them. The Agents have always been a huge problem before, as well. I expect some of the other ships whose Captain's believe will request your help, once they are told who you are."

"I won't have to change ship…?" he asked, turning back to Trinity, slightly concerned. The idea of working with Morpheus and Trinity seemed perfectly normal; but working under someone else…

"No," she said reassuringly. "Only you or Morpheus could make that decision, but I doubt either of you would do so."

Half an hour later, they returned to the ship. Trinity had advised Neo on what to do if there was a Sentinel attack. She believed there wouldn't be one, Neo could tell. She believed that nothing could happen because he was the One. He was a little more uncertain: even if nothing happened to him, something could still happen to either Trinity or Morpheus.

The _Nebuchadnezzar_ came into viewed as they climbed a pile of metal. Morpheus could easily be seen, the dark red of his jumper standing out against the grey of the ship. He sat just by the ramp up, holding a F2-EMP gun carefully in both hands. His back was straight, he was clearly alert as he noticed them even before Trinity waved. They clattered down the pile of junk and joined Morpheus at the entrance.

"As we are without warnings of a Sentinel approach, one of us should remain outside the ship at all times. Our only hope of an advance warning is to listen for their arrival, and even that will be hardly more than were we to wait for an attack directly on the hull. However, every second is precious. Unfortunately, there are not enough of us to make this job easy, we will have one eight hour shift a day each."

Neo agreed to go first, and sat down, gun in hands, waiting. He guessed Morpheus and Trinity would want to talk, they'd both been freed for longer than him and knew what they were doing far more than he did. Despite the knowledge that the slightest bit of noise could be the signal of their sudden death, it was hard to concentrate on the silence. The cold kept him awake, but he didn't want to think of the situation in hand.

Instead of thinking about the events since his visit to the Oracle, he let his mind turn back to his life as Thomas Anderson for the first time in ages. Thomas Anderson was most definitely dead now, Neo could never imagine himself returning to a life as an Office Drone after this. But then, this life was still hard to believe. What made him different from everyone else in his office? Why had he been the one who wasn't happy? Couldn't the machines have just messed around with his programming and changed how he felt?

If they could, then they probably would have done, he reasoned. So that meant there was something about humans in general that the machines couldn't mess around with.

He shifted in his seat, careful to make as little noise as possible. The Sentinels had every advantage, the last thing he needed was to miss the amazingly quiet whirring of their motors…

But what was that?

He jumped to his feet, brandishing the gun and scanning the area frantically. There was a noise! There was something in the silence and it was getting louder! And brighter… he could see a glow from one end of the curving tunnel. He ran up the ramp and shouted, "Morpheus!" the sound of his voice echoed throughout the corridors of the ship. What could he do?

The noise was getting louder, the light brighter. Whatever it was, was getting closer…


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **In the Real World

**Summary: **After becoming the One, Neo still doesn't really know what he can do or what's expected of him. Fighting Agents turns out to be one of the least of his worries… (Gap filler set between M1 and M2).

**Rating: **PG-13, just in case.

**A/N: **Just a gap-filler starting after M1. There are no spoilers for M2 and M3 apart from the odd hint that slips into my writing.

Since I'm English, I'm guessing my writing is also inherently so. And since The Matrix is American, I'm trying to write slightly more American-ish than normal. So I'd appreciate anyone who picked out any glaring Britishisms. As my interests lie in the Armed Forces I've used terms I'm not sure would be used in Zion (in particular, things like mess tins) but they're familiar to me. If there are any Americanized terms that are more suitable, I'd be glad to hear.

This is my first Matrix fic, so any constructive criticism (or any reviews at all) are welcome.

As I've said before, I'm at boarding school. This means research is very limited. I've used the characters I have, simply because they're well known, more so than some of the random bit parts, anyway. I've never played _Enter the Matrix_, but I have read the transcript; so characterization may no be perfect.

Thanks for reviews to **Misty X**,** ThereIsNoBrain**,** Divamercury**,** Hazelle**,** Lady Urquentha **and the anonymous! I'm glad you all enjoyed.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own 'The Matrix' or any of the characters involved and I'm not making any money out of this.

**Chapter 3**

The light flickered as it grew brighter and brighter. Neo stared, gun in hand, trying to work out what it was. As it got closer he realised there was no way it could be Sentinels; it was too big and too bright. But what was it? Had the machines invented some other fearsome enemy for them to tackle? He stood still, not knowing what to do, or how to deal with this possible threat. He couldn't run, and he didn't know what it was.

Morpheus and Trinity both dashed out of the ship, slightly out of breath. Trinity breathed and audible sigh of relief, her face was paler than normal. Clearly, Neo's worried shout had suggested something far worse than what it was.

"Another ship," she said. Neo shut his eyes, relieved; he'd been so panicked, his heart was still pounding in his chest.

And suddenly it became clear, as the ship drew closer and closer, pads fizzing and sparking, beams of light shining in front. It travelled slowly, presumably trawling the ground for the _Nebuchadnezzar_. Or so they hoped, there was no other reason for it to be in the area.

"It's the _Logos_," said Morpheus. The electrical noise made it hard to hear. Neo stared up as the ship passed slowly over them. The _Logos_ was smaller than the _Neb_, and clearly a different design. "She's only got a crew of three, I'm surprised she's in this area: ships with smaller crews don't tend to travel so far from Zion. I'd have expected a larger ship to be close enough to search for us."

They stood watching as the ship carefully landed, avoiding the heaps of metal, as close by to the _Neb_ as she could get without a crash

"They'll have spotted us all on holographics and the infrared sensors," muttered Trinity, right by Neo's ear. "No doubt Niobe - she's the Captain - will want to talk to Morpheus about what's happened to us all. She doesn't believe in the One, but she's one of the best pilots around, as well as a good Captain."

"The other two?" asked Neo, curious. He'd met no one apart from the crew of the _Neb_ in his short time out of the Matrix and was suddenly slightly nervous about new people, people who didn't believe as fervently as Trinity or Morpheus.

"Sparky and Ghost. Ghost is an old friend of mine, we were freed at the same time and he's been a good friend since then."

"Oh…?" said Neo, trying to keep his voice casual. He bit his tongue, mentally hitting himself; _of course_ Trinity would have plenty of friends he didn't know, he shouldn't feel at all jealous because of it.

Trinity took his hand and squeezed it slightly. "That's all, Neo, he's just a friend." Neo nodded, he trusted her, there was no need to be unreasonable about it

She looked back at the _Logos_, and Neo turned his attention to the ship as well. The ramp was being slowly lowered, the machinery creaking slightly with age. There was a clash as metal hit metal when the ramp dropped the last inch without mechanical support. The lights of the _Logos_ dimmed and the pads quietened; too much surplus power could be a real danger in such a large iron scrap yard. Morpheus had walked forward, towards the ship. Neo and Trinity followed; Neo slightly behind, nervous at the people he was about to meet.

The two were dressed in the typical garb of those working on ships. Captain Niobe was slim and fairly young looking, but she was most definitely the Captain. The man who walked with her was slightly Asian in appearance; from the smile he threw Trinity, Neo guessed he was Ghost.

"Sentinels?" asked Niobe.

Morpheus nodded. "We could not use the EMP as Neo was still in the Matrix when they attacked, with no way of getting him out."

"Neo…?" Niobe's gaze turned to his, and she gave him a slightly calculating look. "We should talk inside, it will be safer if we're found by the Sentinels."

"Very well," replied Morpheus. "But it is my wish to return to Zion as soon as humanly possible." The three followed Niobe and Ghost into the _Logos_.

Like the _Neb_, the _Logos_ was fairly simple in design and easy to navigate. Niobe led them up several metal ladders and into a small room that was fairly close to the core. The room was plain, it had only a metal table in the center and there wasn't really any room for chairs. There was little enough space for all of them as it was. The plating that made up the walls of the room was dented and tarnished but, unlike most walls in the ships, it gave no indication of opening to storage areas.

Ghost appeared again shortly, followed by a young-ish man who was presumably Sparky. All six of them crowded around the table, with Niobe at the head, clearly in charge; Morpheus stood next to her. Neo carefully positioned himself between Morpheus and Trinity, hoping for all the support he could get. It would have been so much easier to meet in the Matrix, he'd have felt much more confident there. A place where you could do anything, or be anyone, where nothing was real; somewhere he could manipulate exactly has he chose… that would make telling any tale far easier.

Niobe began to question Morpheus, she was obviously critical of many of his decisions. Morpheus replied calmly and briefly, telling her only the important facts and she grew more skeptical as he revealed more of the story. Neo couldn't blame her, it was enough to make anyone wonder, he wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't been there. He guessed, from the looks on everyone else's faces, that Morpheus (and Trinity, when she took command) had done things in a way that were… not exactly by the book. Niobe clearly believed the reason they were still alive was purely luck. She didn't blame them for the deaths of the rest of the crew: no one could have seen Cypher's betrayal coming.

"What do you say then, Neo?" she asked. "Do you have anything to add?"

"I think Morpheus covered it all," said Neo carefully. He wasn't sure what to say, or if saying one thing would reveal too much.

"And you believe you're the One?"

"I know I'm the One. I wouldn't be alive if I wasn't."

Niobe was silent, frowning slightly. She turned back to Morpheus. "I won't turn this into a debate about our own beliefs," she told him. "You know my feelings and I know yours. We had to agree to disagree a long time ago. However, there is news that must be passed on to you: since you've been down for a couple of days you'll have missed the message. There are plans to meet at the bakery today. The others would, no doubt, want to hear your story."

"We are without an Operator," replied Morpheus. "I would want all three of us to attend any meetings as all of us have done things, or made decisions that will no doubt be of interest to the group. Perhaps next time would be more convenient, after we have found a new Operator" Morpheus did not look particularly happy at the idea of missing this, and Niobe was also frowning.

Neo shifted on his feet, the bakery? Inside the Matrix? Much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he wanted to return to the Matrix, to see what he could do, to change the code… It didn't matter if it wasn't real, the Matrix was a part of who he was and that would never change. Trinity glanced at him, noticing how he fidgeted. He briefly smiled to reassure her, no doubt they could talk later.

"Sparky?" said Niobe. Sparky, who had been leaning on the table, straightened slightly at being included for the first time.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"You could jack us all in, couldn't you?"

"Sure, if you're going to magically create a few more chairs up there," he replied.

"We would, of course, use the _Nebuchadnezzar_," said Morpheus. "As there are seven places there. That is more than enough."

"… Or we could do that," said Sparky, with a shrug. "Either sounds good. Of course, if the Sentinels come along they'll get the _Logos_." Niobe gave him a look, and he was silent. It was becoming clear to Neo that even joking about the Sentinels was a bad idea.

Neo thought back to his first day of training and began to wish, for the first time, that Tank _had_ offered him to choice to do some operational programs, no matter how boring he thought they were. He was shadowing Trinity as she connected the two ships so the _Neb_could be resurrected.

"We'll put you through the rest of the training before we return to Zion," said Trinity. "We'll have to; any recruits not fully trained aren't allowed to leave on a ship until they're finished, and at the speed everything goes there, it could be weeks!"

"Weeks? To upload a few programs?"

"Most people only take one or two hours a day, maximum. Morpheus wanted to get you done as quickly as possible so he said you should be given what you could handle. It's also the done thing, in Zion, to test you at every stage to make sure it's successful."

Neo frowned slightly: why would something that goes directly into your brain be unsuccessful?

"It's to bottleneck the system," she explained, seeing his face. "They don't want too many new recruits at once, we simply don't have the space to deal with them all. There has, once every so often, been a person whose brain refuses to accept an input, which is the official reason for the tests; but the chances of that happening are so small it's not worth all the hassle.

"Here, lift this up and stick it in there." She handed him what looked like a large pipe, but was too heavy to be hollow and presumably some sort of highly durable wiring. Neo pushed it in and twisted it into place, before Trinity radioed both Morpheus and Sparky, in their respective ships.

Neo stepped back suddenly, as the electricity flared in both ships. The pads of the _Neb_and the _Logos_ fizzed with life, the buzzing overwhelmingly loud. There were no stray sparks, as far as they were from the pads, but Neo couldn't help but feel distinctly unsafe. Even Trinity looked a little nervous, but Neo guessed this was something she'd not had to do often.

"Will both ships have enough power after this?" he half-shouted over the noise of the waking ship.

"The _Logos_ doesn't have to give us much power, it's just a jump start, really," Trinity replied, equally loudly. "We still have some residues of energy, the EMP can't destroy it, only mess around with the system!"

Neo stood behind Sparky on the main deck of the _Neb_. Niobe and Morpheus were carefully planning entrances and exits, as well as making sure everyone was briefed. Neo guessed they had respect for each other, but that there was some history between them: some of the comments were almost certainly designed to aggravate, although only very subtly. Fortunately, neither rose to any bait. They both realised they couldn't, in such a situation.

He turned back to the three screens in front of Sparky, who was speedily switching from location to location as Morpheus and Niobe discussed each one. Neo stared at the falling green code, not moving and barely blinking. He was sure he shouldn't be seeing what he was, but he supposed it made sense.

"Right, so that's decided," said Niobe, finally. "All of you, gather around."

Trinity and Ghost walked over, they'd been talking in the corner. Neo had been trying his best to ignore it, concentrating instead on the Matrix. It hadn't been very easy. He trusted Trinity, but he knew so little about Ghost he couldn't help but feel jealous. That Trinity would choose Ghost over him… but he supposed they hadn't seen each other in a while.

Sparky tapped a few keys; an empty street with an old and dilapidated pay phone appeared on the left hand screen. Or, at least, the green rain spelling out the street did.

"This is where we make our entrance," said Niobe. "We plan to use it as our primary exit, too. It's close to where we're heading, but not too close. And no other ship plans to use it."

Morpheus turned to Neo, suddenly remembering Neo had not yet learned to read the code. "Neo, can you-?"

"See the code? Yes," he replied. He hadn't been able to, it had just been random green characters before. But now it wasn't. Now it was clearly the Matrix and he could see very obvious pictures and shapes in it. He wasn't even reading it, the way the others seemed too, it was just there. The same way it had been like a sixth sense in those precious few seconds after he'd awoke from being shot. He just _knew_.

"You can read the code after being freed for _how_ long?" asked Sparky. "It took me ages, what's your secret? Or is it that whole I'm-the-One thing again?"

"Let's not get into that," said Niobe. "I'll show you the other exits we have ready for emergencies."

Half and hour and a thorough briefing later, the two crews readied themselves to enter the Matrix. Neo felt slightly jumpy: this was just the third time he'd returned to the Matrix, and the first time he didn't have to worry about the Agents; but there was so much he wanted desperately to try. He was also slightly paranoid for the safety of the others: it didn't take a lot to kill a person, he hadn't really realised that before, in a strange sense. He was safe, but Trinity and Morpheus… all it would take was one bullet.

Sticking a spike in the back of your own head was an act that should be required solely of contortionists, Trinity helped him with his but was magically able to jack herself in. Neo guessed it was made easier with practice, but he couldn't think how it was possible to bend an arm in that way.

"Ready everyone?" called Sparky. "Suicide Mission number forty-seven is about to commence!"

Suddenly, where there hadn't been people, there were. The code fizzed slightly at the change, but soon accepted these new entries. Physics suggested the creation of something out of nothing was impossible, fortunately this was another rule that could be broken. The code fizzed again at each end of the alley, although none of the others could see that he had blocked it from entry: it never hurt to be cautious. It was something that he barely registered doing, and certainly didn't stop to think how, one minute, a normal alley; next the code had been overwritten.

Neo stood still, looking around at them all: the difference between Matrix avatars and their real world selves was staggering. Each person hid their eyes behind sunglasses and between them they carried an absurd amount of weaponry. The Matrix was a child's dream, the clothes they wore were creations of their own mind, perfectly fitting. Most wore cloaks or capes that would no doubt have been done away with if air resistance weren't something to be ignored.

He stood back from the group, looking around. The Matrix was different again; he'd had so little time to really look before. He could see it what everyone else could: an alley, empty of all but a phone box. But he could see the code at the same time… somehow and, deep down, if he concentrated, he could see shadows of the real world, the strange chairs with one person sat on each. It wasn't clear, but he was sure it was more than just a memory.

The two crews stayed together, they planned only to split up if Agents were encountered. Contrary to what Niobe and even Morpheus had told him in the briefing, Neo had no plans to run if Agents appeared, he would stand and fight.

As they walked Neo wasn't really able to pay attention to Morpheus, Trinity, or any of the others: he was concentrating too much on everything he could see and feel. He could see the layers of code on top of each other and sense things beyond what he could see. The coding of the Agents, far more familiar to him than to any other person, seemed nowhere around. However, he did not let himself believe they were safe, the Agents could see them through the eyes of any human still jacked in.

As much as possible, the group passed inside buildings and through deserted alleys, Niobe was on the phone to Sparky, checking each corridor was clear before they could advance. Neo could have told her right off, but he guessed it wasn't the best time to undermine the power of the Operator. Instead, he did little things, practising, playing around with the code, making it so anyone who looked out of an apartment spy-hole didn't seen them; making sure the Agents couldn't trace the conversation between Niobe and Sparky.

The 'Bakery' was an old abandoned factory or warehouse: the large high-ceilinged building was completely empty, and smelled of dust. The windows were high up, with iron bars across them. It was stable, though, and no people were near enough to trace the meeting at that time.

Their group was the last to arrive, Neo guessed there to be three or four other crews already there, all dressed in the typical attire of Red Pills. It was weird, being able to see their code so easily, it felt slightly intrusive, but he couldn't help what he could see. He avoided looking too deeply, sensing he may even be able to see thought patterns if he delved too much.

"Morpheus, Niobe," said one of the other Captains.

"I do apologise for our slight lateness," said Morpheus. "The _Nebuchadnezzar_ needed to be started again."

"And your crew is somewhat… diminished…? Not to mention the extra you seemed to have picked up. I don't remember anything on the record of new crew."

"That's because it wasn't on the record," said Niobe, sharply. "Morpheus thinks he's found another One."

There was a sharp intake of breath and a sudden swiveling of heads to Neo, who stood still, refusing to be intimidated. It was different here, to when Morpheus had told Niobe: here he felt in his own territory. He saw the mutters and whispers, and could hear every word he chose to. Disbelief from some, confusion from others; some trusted Morpheus and some didn't, but they were mostly interested enough in whatever the story was behind the sudden appearance of the One.


End file.
